Why are preteen fashion trends so different now?
Preteen girls’ fashion is even more mature, precise, and uniform than that of previous generations—but this change reveals a more drastic phenomenon, due to forces that weren't at play in the past.
Delia’s, the former leading marketer to preteen and teenage girls, sold $300 million in retail in 2003. Justice, a brand specific to the preteen market, outsold Walmart and Target in girls’ apparel during the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012.
Both retailers recently closed their stores and filed for bankruptcy. Clearly, times have changed.
While youth fashion trends are nearly impossible to define or generalize, everyday kids speak to it best. Experts analyze preteen culture, but preteens are living it. A dozen girls aged 11-13 illustrated a surprisingly cohesive and complex picture of Generation Alpha (born after 2010) fashion, one that differs from previous generations’ style trends.
Based on the 12 interviews, Gen Alpha girls’ fashion is even more mature, precise, and uniform than that of previous generations. But this shift indicates a more drastic phenomenon: Present-day preteen style reveals their loss of individuality—even more stark than usual—due to the Covid-19 quarantine and the user community-based app TikTok, forces that weren’t at play in the past.
What does Gen Alpha girls’ fashion look like?
Today’s preteen fashion is unconventionally mature, featuring solid-color clothing, expensive activewear, low-rise jeans, and tight, cropped T-shirts. While Millennial and Gen Z kids shopped at preteen-associated stores, Gen Alpha style encourages girls to choose stores they consider adult, such as Lululemon and Urban Outfitters.
“They get women’s brands to make them feel more of a woman,” Bella* (age 11) said. “Basically, whatever the trend is for grown-ups or teenagers, that’s what kids take and make trends from.”
According to Farah (13), preteen girls seek out women’s fashion because they have close access to adults on social media. “They can see all the grown stuff and want it,” she said.
What are their fashion trends?
Gen Alpha fashion trends rely on “aesthetics,” distinct categories of styles that use specific colors and types of clothing to signify a predefined set of personal characteristics.
Isabella (12) wears “coquette” aesthetic, which involves pastel pinks, sweaters, bows, and lace to indicate a softhearted personality. On TikTok, #Coquette had almost 18 billion views across 1.2 million creations as of February 2024. The app no longer shares view counts, but the hashtag has over 187 million creations.
Katie (11) wears “preppy” aesthetic for an outgoing personality. Unlike classic prep, Gen Alpha preppy style includes hot pinks, bright blues, and jewelry for an outgoing personality. #Preppy has over 140 million creations on TikTok.
While those two aesthetics are wide-reaching, the interviewees mentioned many others that vary in popularity from school to school, including “cottagecore” (nature-lover), “coastal grandmother” (easygoing beach-lover), “downtown girl” (casual, cultured city girl), and “hypebeast” (cool, confident trendsetter).
How do preteen girls choose which aesthetic to follow?
Katie and Isabella said their aesthetics match their personalities—but Isabella added that many kids choose the most common aesthetic of their school, deciding to take on an accepted personality to avoid social rejection. “It’s turned into more of uniformity, rather than individuality,” Lola (13) said.
While preteens have always wanted to dress alike for social acceptance, Gen Alpha fashion aesthetics aren’t just about a pre-approved look. They offer a pre-approved identity, ensuring that kids’ perceived personalities match those of their peers. “It’s a place of safety, because they feel good if they fit in,” Lila (12) said.
The pressure to “fit in” isn’t new, but today’s preteens face increased pressure after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the interviewed girls. Lila said that the solitude of remote school during quarantine exacerbated their fear of isolation. “There’s more anxiety to fulfill that nervousness and pressure,” she said. According to her, they’re scared to feel alone again.
Current preteens were between 6 and 9 years old at the start of the Covid-19 quarantine in Spring 2020. Considering their age, most of them probably don’t remember pre-pandemic socialization—but they remember mid-pandemic isolation. Clothes with a built-in, rubber-stamped personality offer security. “It’s like a strategy,” Bella said.
Where does Gen Alpha fashion come from?
“It starts from TikTok,” Farah said.
According to the interviewed girls, preteens wear outfits inspired by influencers on TikTok, discover aesthetics from trending videos and hashtags, and choose articles of clothing based on what they see on the app, sometimes purchasing items directly from influencers’ advertisements.
Media, advertisements, and celebrities influenced many generations of preteen fashion—but TikTok serves as a direct source for Gen Alpha fashion, likely a consequence of the Covid-19 quarantine.
Before the pandemic, present-day preteens were between 5 and 8 years old. “Fashion was what your mom picks out for you,” Bella said about pre-pandemic life. During quarantine, Gen Alpha kids attended school remotely from home. The interviewed girls said that they almost exclusively wore loungewear during that time. They also said that they used social media in quarantine, despite being only 6-9 years old. “I was on TikTok,” Farah said. “I didn’t even have a phone at that time.”
Now, as preteens, they’re at an age when many girls begin searching for their style—but few of today’s preteens have prior fashion choices as a starting point, and most of them began relying on TikTok at an unusually early age. As a result, they search for their style on their most familiar resource.
“After Covid, I was trying to find my style,” Kayla (13) said. “I was on TikTok more.”
Why is TikTok’s influence on Gen Alpha fashion unique?
TikTok differs from past media because of its crowdsourced content and wide-reaching engagement with strangers. On TikTok, everyday kids can post videos, gain a following, directly interact with their audience, maintain relatability, and convey authenticity.
“I can see actual people wearing it and reviewing the stuff,” Kayla said about TikTok. “You can relate to the people wearing it.”
Gen Alpha kids relate to young influencers’ quotidian content—like videos in which they get ready for school—which then makes their promoted content seem genuine. According to Isabella, preteens can trust young influencers’ paid advertisements because they seem more sincere than less-relatable celebrities’ advertisements.
“They aren’t really doing it for the money,” Isabella said. “Bigger influencers, they just do it for money. I think that’s how people trust.”
“Younger influencers are more honest,” she said.
By trusting external sources without skepticism, preteens don’t need to consult individual beliefs or personal preferences. They can all dress the same.
What about preteen girls who didn’t use TikTok during the pandemic?
Beatrice (12) did not join TikTok until last year, when she was in the seventh grade. She said that she chooses her clothes for convenience and practicality. She wears leggings and sweatpants because they ensure comfort and fit her active lifestyle.
“Some of the girls in my grade got TikTok at a young age, like fourth or fifth grade, and I think that affected how they dress,” Beatrice said. “I feel like I’m less affected by trends.”
Camila (11) does not use TikTok at all. She did not mention trends, aesthetics, or other fashion influences. Instead, she described choosing clothes that she likes for her individual style and her desire to wear school-appropriate outfits.
Camila acknowledged that she dresses differently from her peers, wearing items that “a lot of people don’t like.” Instead of stores that cater to Gen Alpha trends—like Brandy Melville, Hollister, and American Eagle—she shops at Gap, Old Navy, and Nordstrom.
“I want to dress nicely so I look presentable,” she said.
Don’t we all?
*name changed for privacy